Does the “pillar of cloud” turn into fire?

Q: Does the “pillar of cloud” actually turn into fire in Exo 14:20, as the New Living Translation states?  I’m confused, because other translations don’t say that.  What is going on there?

Here is how Exo 14:20 reads in the New Living Translation (NLT):

“The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.”  Exo 14:20, NLT

In my opinion, the NLT is a clear over-translation of the Hebrew text in this verse.  It could very well be that the author intends to describe that the cloud turns into fire, but we don’t know for sure from the Hebrew text that is there.  Here is how I would translate Exo 14:20 in a very literal way (pay attention to the textual notes):

And [the pillar of cloud] came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. And the cloud was there with the darkness*, and [the cloud] shone with the night**, and neither came near the other all the night.
* or perhaps “and there was both cloud and darkness”
** or perhaps “and lit up the night”

It is clear from the Hebrew text that the cloud produces light somehow. Given the overall context of the entire exodus narrative––where the pillar is a cloud during the day and fire during the night––it makes complete sense that “the cloud turning to fire” is exactly what happened that night. But I think it’s too much to say that the Hebrew phrase there definitively means that the cloud turned to fire.

I understand the Hebrew text in the same way as the New International Version (NIV), which starts the sentence back in v.19.  The NIV states that the theophanic cloud produced light on the Israelite side and darkness on the Egyptian side.

“The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.”  Exo 14:19b-20, NIV

This verse contains a Hebrew word that could be either the preposition “with” (shone with the night, as per my translation above) or a particle that marks the direct object of a verb (lit up the night, as per the alternate text in my textual note).  For a couple different reasons, I think it makes much better sense to read that word as a preposition. I’m pretty sure that’s how the NIV translators understood it, which (I think) is how the NIV gets the “darkness on one side, light on the other” idea.  I myself feel reasonably confident that the story is saying that, on that particular night, the pillar was dark on the Egyptian side and light on the Israelite side.  Perhaps the pillar was both cloud and fire at the same time?  We don’t really know for sure, but it’s fun to imagine!